Hello all
I would like to know about linux as i've been told many things so I am trying to setup a Vertual pc in my windows Vista system,Now I do know how vertual pc's work as I use it with other OS as well.My problem is it will not boot the FEDORA version 7 disk I have for that matter the disk will not even boot on my system starting it form CD-rom drive.But what I really want to do is set it up as a vertual pc so I can run them side by side as I do with the other vertual pc's I have.Now if Linux is as good as everyone says it is then I will then buy a new pc to run it on, but I need to find this out first.

Is there anyone that can help me with this problem.please.I have tryed to reburn an ISO bootable disk through Nero but Nero will not read the FEDORA linux disk.I have been told it should work in vertual and I know that Linux can run vertual pc with windows in it but there is nothing out there about runing linux in windows.So can it be done and if not why not.

I run a Amd dual core 4200+ machine with 4000mb ram which I am going to increase to 8000mb ram using 4x2048 sticks, with a 7300nvidia card so I have the speed I need.To the point that since I use 3 monitors I run Vista on 2 monitors and XP in vertual pc on the other at the same time without any issues or speed loss.I would like to be able to do the same thing with this linux program so I can see them run side by side.

Happy now,Where does it say ianywhere in what I wrote that I'm an idiot m8. Really don't you have anything better to do.Isn't setting up a liniux OS called programing,it is everywhere else.But thanks I have it in both now.

There was once a time when setting up any Linux install required a deal of shell scripting (and unhelpful help from people who insisted on explaining it in vi when you asked about emacs and vice versa). And there was once a time when such scripting was called "shell programming" and the shells were called "command shells". There was even a time when desktop computers booted into built-in command languages such as BASIC or CP/M. Writing scripts in these languages was indeed just called "programming" and the scripts were understood to be proper programs. Nowadays of course many Linux distros such as Ubuntu no longer need such fiddling, and install at least as easily as Windows - though sooner or later you will probably need to open a bash shell and script some commands in a Turing-complete environment. So philoo's misunderstanding is understandable (if you see what I mean).

Then again, check out some famous discussion forums and you might easily come to the conclusion that Flamefests are a programmers' speciality, and rudeness the norm. ;-(
Not on this forum please, philooo. Please do not mistake shortness for deliberate rudeness, many of us are just like that - why use two words where one will do.

I am afraid I cannot help with CD problems (my Ubuntu downloads under Windows burn to CD and then install just fine), but once you have cracked that there are some other approaches you can take:

1. Burn a "Live" Linux distro and run Linux direct from CD - no need to install.

2. Set up a "dual-boot" install, with a separate partition on your HD for Linux to live in. This is how most distros install themselves.

3. Some distros install themselves under Windows, and you run them from within Windows.

Setting up a virtual (sic) machine under Windows used to be a lot harder than these, but I know nothing about that - maybe it is easier nowadays, or someone here can indeed help (if you are nice to them ).

"Klinger, do you know how many zoots were killed to make that one suit?" — BJ Hunnicutt, 4077 M*A*S*H

towy71 wrote:Wubi would seem to be the easiest way to me, but then I don't have a computer running windows to try it on

From the Wubi FAQ:

What is the relationship between Linux and Ubuntu?Ubuntu is an operating system that includes a lot of free and open source applications and uses Linux as its core. Linux is like this amazing solar-powered engine that can be used in a street car, in a F1 or it can be daisy chained to drive a truck or an airplane. Ubuntu is like a car using the Linux engine, a zero emission, fully accessorised and easy to drive all-terrain, with power, acceleration and looks matching far more expensive supercars... Imagine something like that... ...for free.

Riiiight. Now come and sit in this nice quiet corner over here, just slip your arms into this nice jacket and we'll tie you up safely.

I did say I've never used Linux before so sorry if my terms are not what your used to in Linux but it would be fair to say you still understood what I was talking about (towy71)and could of explained why,So for all you Linux users in the future since I am a fast learner I will use your terms as I learn them but untill then I know you still understand what I'm talking about.

Guy--I thank you for your understanding and explaination.As for running Linux from a disk,The disk I have says it I can do that but when I try it nothing happens and my system says boot atempt failed.I have no idea as to why.
As for ( Set up a "dual-boot" install, with a separate partition on your HD for Linux to live in. This is how most distros install themselves. )comment.I have thought of doing this but I don't want it as a perminant fixture on my system because it will be setup on another pc system if i'm happy with it.This is why the vertual option or the start from CD option sounded just great for the time being before I spent money on a pc.

(Some distros install themselves under Windows, and you run them from within Windows. )This is the type of copy I well I'm supose to have but again nothing boots up anywhere.And yes setting up a vertual pc inside windows is easy,just like setting up a new pc and networking it within itself,as I do this with other windows OSs and never had any issues.I have even run them side by side at the same time all on thier own monitors when I help other people out and everything runs perfectly so know the steps to make this happen is not my problem.It's well I guess you could say learning a whole new langauge to learn linux.
As for being nice to people,___I am nice to everyone as I deal with helping other people with thier windows problems all the time,Espessually since Vista came out as most don't understand it.Anyway what I don't have time for is people who make smart ass remarks and think the are better than everyone else just because they can say boo in two langauges instead of 1.

towy71---Thank you I will give this a go and let you know how it went.

the disk will not even boot on my system starting it form CD-rom drive

I hope you mean DVD Rom Drive.

Is there anyone that can help me with this problem.please.I have tryed to reburn an ISO bootable disk through Nero but Nero will not read the FEDORA linux disk.I have been told it should work in vertual and I know that Linux can run vertual pc with windows in it but there is nothing out there about runing linux in windows.So can it be done and if not why not.

Once your linux-distro.iso is downloaded just right click and open with nero. That should then burn it to disk. If nero can't open it that I'd say the download was corrupt in someway.

Fedora 7 will load in vmware on XP, I lent a colleague my disk he loaded without an issue on his laptop.

RAM__yes sorry I do mean DVDrom drive.As for the Fedoro disc I will try as you have said.Thank you

I did try the Wubi distribution download and it is accepted in the vertual pc but it stall at ( select and install software)it gets to 65% and the file name is(Configuring man-db)I have left it at that for up to 2 hours and nothing happens.

p1k,
You might take a look and see if VMWare community has an installed FC7 virtual machine you can just download and run. Saves you from all the other crap in the short term and would give you at least enough of a glimpse to know if it's worth investing a spare machine. I know they've had Core 5 and Core 6 machines out there for download in the past.

Running Linux off of a CD or DVD is a nice, quick means to play with Linux. While I have not used a VMWare virtual machine, the "player" is free.

I am running SuSE 10.2 on a dedicated machine (KDE) and decided to give Microsoft's free Virtual PC 2007 a try with an Ubuntu 7.04 (Gnome) installation. Note, you do not have to burn a CD or DVD, VPC 2007 can load from the ISO image. I also compiled source for Mono and MonoDevelop, among other things using this environment.

VPC 2007 provides the network interface, sound, and PS/2 support. Sound is limited to a Sound Blaster PCI card and graphics are limited to 16-bit color. Ubuntu (and probably most distros with a GUI interface), defaults to 24-bit color. As a result, as part of your set up, you do need to understand how to change the color depth from 24-bit to 16-bit. You also need to add an entry to the Grub loader to get mouse support. I know you're new to Linux but neither of these items is a big deal if you follow the instructions here:

I noticed that the Ubuntu install was fairly fast for the VPC 2007 installation, while the SuSE 10.2 install was very slow (far slower than my dedicated machine's install). However, once things are installed, the speed is reasonable. I did notice keys being repeated but going to the keyboard settings and modifying the configuration handled that issue.

If arcade gaming is of interest to you, you should not look at any of the virtualized hardware offerings but set up a dedicated machine with the right hardware.

If learning Linux is your goal and you'd like to have it running side-by-side with your WinXP Pro or Vista installation, either VMWare or VPC 2007 are worth a try.

Finally, if your hardware contains virtualization support, make sure it is enabled in your BIOS and make sure you check the VPC 2007 setting to enable hardware virtualization.

I need to switch to whatever distro you're running so I can have, "everything just working" -- I don't even get that on my dedicated boxes (Linux or Windows)

If you go to http://arcanecode.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/ubuntu-704-and-virtual-pc-2007-mouse-issue-workaround-sort-of/, you will see that there is a "bug" in the kernel code, which causes many current distros to not recognize PS/2 mice. This "bug" impacts real and virtual machines that emulate the PS/2 mice hardware (including, VMware and VPC 2007). If you only use a pre-created virtual machine, chances are someone has already sorted this out for you. One of the links I provided in my original post describes a work-around that is applicable to virtual and real machines.

Admittedly, installs on VPC 2007 would run more transparently if it had 24-bit color depth support. However, anyone who uses Linux for more than a few hours quickly recognizes (read, expects) this kind of configuration.

I know VMware Player is free and if your need is to only use preconfigured virtual machines, you're in good shape. If you need to create a virtual machine, however, you have to shell out some cash for one of the other VMware commercial offerings or use one of the virtual machines their Player supports. Interestingly, VPC 2007 is supported so this would imply that you can have your cake and eat it too -- for free.